


Day Twenty-One: Mermaids

by isnonstop



Series: jeffmads month 2k18 [21]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Gen, Mermaids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 14:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14046090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isnonstop/pseuds/isnonstop
Summary: James had just finished eating when the sound of water splashing caught his attention. He looked around with a frown. The lagoon had been perfectly still and calm the entire time he’d been there so he wasn’t sure what had made that noise. James stood, walking slowing around the edge of the lagoon as he kept an eye out for any signs of life.“Hello?” He called. Maybe one of the other passengers on his ship had stumbled across the lagoon as well. He couldn’t see anyone, he couldn’t see any signs of life apart from the birds. “Hello?”“Hello.”





	Day Twenty-One: Mermaids

James was pretty sure he was lost. He’d been walking around the island for a few hours and had long since lost track of where he was. He didn’t particularly care since he knew that he would eventually wander back to where they had made camp near the beach. James was glad to be away from all the others after spending what felt like centuries (but in actuality was just a couple weeks) cooped up together on the ship. After a couple hours of wandering, James came across a small lagoon. It was about midday at this point and James was beginning to grow a bit hungry so he found a tree to sit under and pulled out the bit of bread and cheese he’d brought along with him. Under the shade of the tree, he could see across the lagoon, watching as birds flew overhead and occasionally swooped down towards the water. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining bright with a crisp cool breeze coming off the water. 

James had just finished eating when the sound of water splashing caught his attention. He looked around with a frown. The lagoon had been perfectly still and calm the entire time he’d been there so he wasn’t sure what had made that noise. James stood, walking slowing around the edge of the lagoon as he kept an eye out for any signs of life. 

“Hello?” He called. Maybe one of the other passengers on his ship had stumbled across the lagoon as well. He couldn’t see anyone, he couldn’t see any signs of life apart from the birds. “Hello?”

“Hello.”

James jumped, whirling around and tripping over a rock. He landed on his back with a thud and a groan, vision blurring a bit as his head slammed into the hard ground. It took a second for him to gather himself up and when he did he saw a figure in the water. 

“Hello,” the figure - man? - repeated, giving James a small wave. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Who’re you?” James said, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up. It was then that he noticed that this was no normal man. Now that James could see into the water from above he saw that this man had a tail, a long shimmering purple and blue tail. James blinked, rubbing a hand over his eyes. 

“I’m Thomas,” the man - fish? - said, smiling brightly at James. “Who’re you?”

“You have a tail,” James said in response, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head slightly as he tried to dispell the vision as if it was a hallucination brought on by hitting his head. 

“Of course I do,” Thomas laughed, brushing the straights of his hair out of his face. 

“That can’t be possible,” James said, opening his eyes to stare at Thomas. 

“You humans are strange,” Thomas said, swimming closer to the edge of the lagoon where James was standing. “You know so little about the world and yet you think you know everything.”

“I must have hit my head harder than I thought,” James said, sitting down on the rocks with a sigh, still rubbing the back of his head. “Mermaids are a myth.”

“We’re no such thing,” Thomas said, pulling himself up onto the rocks a bit. Now that the sunlight could hit his tail directly, the scales seemed to shimmer and twinkle, drawing James’ eyes to them. It was undeniably beautiful. “Most things you humans think are myths are actually real. You just have to know where to find them.”

James said nothing, thoughts swirling as he tried to comprehend what he was seeing and reconcile it without everything he had been raised to believe. Mermaids were just a myth, a story told to delight children. And yet here right before his eyes, there was one such creature, living and talking to him. Where all the magical creatures he’d once thought to be nothing more than fiction actually real?

“Are you done freaking out yet?” Thomas’ voice interrupted James’ thoughts, pulling him back to the present. The present where a very real merman was staring at him while carefully twirling small shells into his neatly knotted hair. 

“This is a lot to take in,” James pointed out, grabbing his water flask and taking a small sip. The cool water helped to settle him a bit, soothing the thumping pain in his head. 

“I suppose,” Thomas shrugged. “But instead of freaking out about things and trying to figure out if your whole life was filled with lies wouldn’t it be much more interesting to talk to me?”

“How do you know that’s what I’m thinking?” James frowned, reattaching his flask to his belt. 

“Oh because I thought the same thing,” Thomas shrugged. “When I first found out about merfolk and all the other magical creatures.”

James’ eyes went wide, “What?”

“I wasn’t always a merman,” Thomas said, clearly taking great delight in James’ astonishment. 

James was flabbergasted, unable to form a coherent thought beyond, “But how?”

“Oh it’s a wonderful tale,” Thomas said, leaning back to lounge on the rocks. “Would you like to hear it?” All James could do was nod, completely transfixed by this creature. Thomas smirked, eyes bright with mirth. “Well, it all started on a dark and rainy Sunday…”

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://isnonstop.tumblr.com)


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